


Midnight Sun

by HawthorneWhisperer



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Single Parent AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 20:34:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5178689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawthorneWhisperer/pseuds/HawthorneWhisperer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My thought process on this fic: "You know what would be hot?  Gale as a single dad and Madge as his daughter’s kindergarten teacher."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_August_

Madge surveyed this year’s crop of parents—it was pretty much what she’d expected.  Mostly married couples around her age or slightly older, with a tiny handful of single parents—or just a parent whose spouse couldn’t make it to Parents’ Night.  There was a sickeningly perfect blonde couple, the wife seeming to have taken the night off from what Madge could only assume was her part-time job as a Real Housewife, and her husband all giant muscles, gelled hair, and square-jawed.  She had a sneaking suspicion that whichever child was theirs, he or she would be a little…high maintenance.  And judging from the series of questions they peppered her with—including questions about her college, which they followed with an eyeroll toward each other, as if a state college couldn’t  _possibly_  turn out a teacher qualified to teach their little monster—she was going to have her hands full with the parents as well.

 

She ran through her typical start-of-the-year list, explaining classroom policies and expectations, stopping every so often to field a question.  Madge was used to parents being a little bit basket-casey at this event–it’s not every day that you send your kid to kindergarten, after all—so she tried to handle them with good humor.  Delly was fond of saying that the fact that if you looked up “kindergarten teacher” in the dictionary you’d see a picture of Madge Undersee was also a contributing factor in easing nervous parents, but Madge preferred to think that it was her skill and six years of experience that did the trick.

Madge had just finished talking with one such nervous parent (a quiet woman named Rue with a sweet smile) when she found herself staring at a man’s chest.  A very nice chest, if she was honest with herself, , sitting below broad shoulders and above a narrow waist, but Madge was used to being a little closer to eye level.  She craned her neck up, realizing that the chest belonged to the dark haired man that had folded himself very awkwardly into the tiny chairs that lined the equally tiny tables in her classroom.  He had looked grumpy, but maybe that was just because he was uncomfortable, because now he was smiling and Madge was nearly blinded.  Fortunately, Madge was still in teacher-mode and not flirting-at-a-bar-mode (which, had she met him there, she  _definitely_  would have at least made an attempt) so she gathered herself quite admirably.  Mr. Unfairly Handsome stuck out a hand.  “Gale Hawthorne.  It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Undersee.”  She shook his hand, mentally patting herself on the back for keeping it together.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Hawthorne.  Do you have any special concerns?”

He shook his head.  “Nope, just wanted to introduce myself.”  He smiled again.  “Have a nice night, Ms. Undersee.”

Apparently, Mr. I’m-Too-Handsome-To-Live was the last parent, because when his nicely formed backside left the room, Madge was alone.  She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and set about straightening up her room.  In less than a week she was going to have thirty very energetic five year olds on her hands and she needed to be on top of her game.

 

_September_

It was parent-teacher conference night—every teacher’s least favorite day of the quarter.  It meant staying insanely late (with no dinner, because heaven forbid Principal Coin spring for pizzas or something for her staff, and eating in front of parents was “frowned upon,”) and spending upwards of four hours alternately soothing parents’ nerves and being belittled for things Madge had no control over.  By seven o’clock, Madge was starving and exhausted, and of course ( _of course)_  that would be when Mr. What-Doesn’t-Everyone-Look-Like-A-Model walked in and sat down in the specially procured adult-sized chair across from her desk and flashed that horrifically handsome smile.  Madge cleared her throat and began.  “It’s nice to see you, Mr. Hawthorne.  Juniper is a lovely, energetic child,” (energetic being kindergarten teacher for “kind of a handful, but I like her”) “who is progressing nicely in—“ she broke off as her stomach gave an embarrassingly loud growl, causing Mr. Impossibly Beautiful to raise an eyebrow.

She tried to plow on, but he interrupted.  “Hungry?” he asked, smothering a grin.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine.  Anyway, as I was saying—“ but he would not be deterred.

“Seriously.  When was the last time you ate?”

“This afternoon.  Really, Mr. Hawthorne, I’m fine.  Juniper—“

“Juniper is a goddamn terror and we both know it.   _When_  this afternoon, Ms. Undersee?”

“2:30.”  She’d grabbed a banana while her students were at gym, but she hadn’t had a moment to herself since then.  “However, I must insist that Juniper isn’t a ‘terror’ but just a high-spirited girl who maybe needs a little more direction.”

He snorted, digging through the messenger bag he had with him.  “That’s an understatement.  Here.  It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”  He held out a somewhat battered-but-intact protein bar.  Madge hesitated, but her stomach gurgled again so she took it.  She unwrapped it and sunk her teeth in—it was dry and not very tasty, but she was  _starving_. 

“Anyway,” she mumbled, keeping her hand up to hide her open mouth, “getting back to Juniper.  She’s very bright, and when she’s on task she’s really a joy.”

He leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other, resting his ankle on his knee.  “She hasn’t hit anyone, has she?”

“What?  No!”  Juniper tended to be a bit distracting for the other students—and loud, especially when she didn’t get her way—but she wasn’t mean or a bully.

“Ok, good.  She went through a hitting phase when she started preschool, and I was worried it might resurface now that she’s in a new school.  We worked on it at home, but you never know how a kid will react to change.”

“No, nothing like that.  And like I said, she’s really extraordinarily bright, and I’m not particularly concerned about her behavior—“

“Is there anything you want me to work on at home?”

Madge bristled a bit at his interruption.  “She could use some help with transitioning between activities, and maybe you could both work on not interrupting people when they’re talking,” she snapped, instantly regretting it.

Fortunately, he just smiled.  “Sorry, it’s a bad habit.  Continue, Ms. Undersee.”

For some reason, Madge didn’t like the way he said her name.  Or maybe she liked it too much, and  _that_ was what was bothering her.  She took a deep breath.  “Academically, she’s fine; right on track and maybe a little ahead of where she should be at this point in the year.  Really, it’s early enough that I think she’ll adjust as the year goes on and there’s nothing to be worried about.”

“Promise?” His eyes were twinkling.  Was he  _flirting?_  

 _Don’t flirt back, don’t flirt back, don’t_ —“Cross my heart.”   _Damn it._

“Sounds good, Ms. Undersee.  I suppose I should head out—unless you want me to stall a bit.  It’s those yuppie jerks from Parents’ Night next.”

 _Ugh.  Zayden’s parents_.  But as much as Madge wanted him to stay, she couldn’t let her teacher-mask drop.  She waved him away.  “It’s not a problem, Mr. Hawthorne.  Send them in.”

“It’s just Gale, Ms. Undersee.”  And then he  _winked_  like it was just something that  _normal people did_ and ducked out the door.  She hadn’t seen a wedding ring—nor had he been wearing one at Parents’ Night, not that she’d looked, or anything—but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.  He might not be married to Juniper’s mother, or maybe he just didn’t like wearing rings.  She felt a little pang of guilt over flirting with a possibly-married man (not to mention the father of one of her students, and union or no, Coin would definitely find a way to fire her if she dated a parent of a current student) but shoved it aside.  It was just harmless flirting, after all, and she had a pair of yuppie jerks to prepare for.

 

_October_

“Mr. Hawthorne?  It’s Ms. Undersee.  Juniper is all right, and I hate to have to call you at work like this, but is there any way you could stop by the school today?”

“Crap.  What did she do?”

“I’d really prefer to speak to you about this in person, but Juniper and another student had a little incident during recess.”

“Let me guess.  She hit the kid.”

“She did indeed.  But like I said, I would really like to talk to you in person about this.”

He sighed.  “I can move some stuff around and be there by four.  Is that too late?”

“No, that’s fine.  I’ll be here.”

“Okay, I’ll call my ma and tell her I’m handling pick-up today.  And Ms. Undersee?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t let her fool you with crocodile tears.  Chances are she’s only sorry she got caught.”

Three hours later, Madge was reviewing her lesson plans for the next day while Juniper played in a corner.  Juniper knew she was in trouble, and her usual exuberant demeanor was nowhere to be found.  A soft knock made Madge look up, mentally cursing her heart for skipping a beat at the sight of Juniper’s dad.  Juniper’s eyes lit up.  “Daddy!” she called excitedly, but one glance at the frown on his face quieted her down instantly.

Madge stood and moved out from behind her desk.  “Juniper, could you go sit in the hall?  I have to talk to your dad about what happened today.”  She hated to see Juniper so subdued—her chin was quivering as she looked at her dad—but she  _had_  hit Zayden in the face.  Three times.  And knocked him down.  And made him cry.  Juniper scurried out to the hall while Madge shook Gale’s hand.  “Thanks for coming.  Like I said on the phone, there was a little incident at recess.”  She offered him a chair and swallowed her smile at him balancing precariously in a chair made for someone ¼ his size.  She perched in a chair next to him.  “Juniper has been struggling to get along with a boy in class, and they had a bit of a blow up.”

He dragged a hand over his face.  “How bad was it?”

“Pretty bad.  She hit him several times and then knocked him over.  I think she would have kicked him if I hadn’t gotten there when I did.”

“Damn.  Was she provoked?  I’m not saying what she did was okay, but it’s not like her to just fly off the handle for no reason.”

“It seems the boy in question had said some things about her mother.”

“What sort of things?”

Madge took a deep breath.  “He said her mother didn’t love her, and that’s why she left. Now, I promise–”

At that, Gale stood, his shoulders tense, his hands clenched in fists.  “ _What?_   And you what, just let him say shit like that?  What the hell kind of teacher are you?”

Madge jumped up too, staring him down.  “If you would just  _let me finish_ ,” she said acidly, “I was going to say that I  _promise_  he has been spoken to as well.  His parents were here earlier, and while they feel very strongly that their son was the injured party, I insisted that he apologize to Juniper too.”

The tension left his shoulders.  “I’m sorry,” he said closing his eyes briefly, “Jo’s a bit of a sore subject with us.”

 “As I said, I made it very clear that his behavior was unacceptable.  And while we can’t tolerate physical violence, we also won’t tolerate verbal bullying.” 

Gale looked around and seemed to decide against sitting on the tiny chair again and instead sat cross legged on the ground, his head buried in his hands.  Madge sat facing him, grateful that she’d worn pants today.  “Fuck,” he muttered.  “ _Fuck_.”  Madge didn’t know what to say—she didn’t want to pry, but she also hated the look of devastation that had crossed his face.  “Jo—that’s my ex-wife, she’s Juniper’s mom, she–“ he lifted his head to look her in the eye,”—she did leave.  Well, I divorced  _her_ , but I never thought she’d split entirely.  And I tried to protect Juniper as best I could.  Johanna—“ Gale stopped, both of them turning at the sound of the door creaking open.

“Daddy?” a small, tremulous voice whispered.  Gale looked to Madge, seemingly for guidance, and at her nod he opened his arms.

“C’mere, June-bug.”  Juniper crept hesitantly toward him and curled into his lap.  Madge stood and walked back to her desk, suddenly realizing she was intruding on a family moment.  “I love you, June-bug,” she heard him murmur against his daughter’s hair.  “I love you, and so—so does your mom.”  His voice caught a little on the last sentence, and Madge felt a tiny surge of hatred for this woman that had hurt them both so badly.  Gale cleared his throat and his voice became stern.  “You’re still in trouble, though.”  Juniper looked up at him, her eyes big.  “You don’t hit, no matter what.  You know that, don’t you?” 

Juniper nodded.  “Yes, Daddy.”

“Did you apologize to him?”

“Yeah.”  Gale glanced at Madge then, who nodded to confirm Juniper’s story.

“Did you mean it?”

“Kinda.”

“Kind of.  Okay, well, I can work with kind of.  Is your backpack packed?  Yeah?  Then go grab it and say good bye to Ms. Undersee, and apologize for making her stay late. We’ll talk more about this when we get home.”

Juniper complied, mumbling an apology to the floor near Madge’s feet.  She crouched down to bring herself into Juniper’s line of sight.  “Thank you, Juniper.  I appreciate your apology.  We all make mistakes, but what’s important is that we learn from them and do our best not to make them again, all right?”  Gale grabbed Juniper’s backpack and headed toward the door, holding it open for his daughter.  Just as he was about to leave, he looked back at Madge and mouthed a silent thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

_November_

Madge rubbed her temples—Harvest Festival, while always a highlight with student and parents, required quite a bit of extra work on the part of teachers.  It was the last day before Thanksgiving, which was sort of a useless day anyway since even kindergarteners seemed to sense that a vacation was something very exciting.  Parents and families were invited, and  Madge had taught her students a song about sharing that they cheerfully shouted at the top of their lungs while she played the piano.

 

Gale was in attendance, as were his mother and younger sister, a strikingly pretty teenager with a daring pixie cut.  Madge was surprised to see he had a sister still in high school, but their mother was on the younger side as well.  Juniper stood with her class in front of the blackboard, trying (and mostly succeeding) to shout down her classmates.   As the families congregated and Madge mingled, her gaze kept drifting to the Hawthorne family.  Gale, his mother, and his sister were all very tall, while Juniper was just a tiny little scrap of a thing.  Clearly, either Juniper had an enormous growth spurt in front of her or her mother was on the shorter side.  Juniper’s hair was also lighter than her father’s and aunt’s and closer in tone to her grandmother’s.  It wasn’t uncommon for Madge to muse on family resemblances—it was fun to see how students were sometimes little puzzles of their parents—but she found herself a little  _too_  interested in Juniper’s family.  And maybe it was her imagination, but Madge felt like Gale might have been watching her too.

At the bell signaling the end of the day there was a flurry of activity as parents cleaned out cubbies and kids excitedly hugged each other good bye.  Juniper clung to sweet little Maggie while Rue and her husband chatted with Gale, and then Gale’s mother (Hazelle, she’d said) took Juniper by one hand and Gale’s sister (Posy, he’d introduced her as) took the other.  There was a scrum at the door as everyone tried to leave at once, and suddenly the entire room was empty except for Madge.  And Gale, who was inexplicably still there.  He scratched the back of his neck, his eyes darting around the room, looking anywhere but her.  “Mom and Posy promised Juniper a girl’s afternoon, so I’ve got some time to kill before dinner and I, ah, I thought you could use some help?  Cleaning up?”

Madge looked around her room, taking in all the torn construction paper, jostled tables, and general disarray.  Gale made her nervous and jittery, but she couldn’t deny that her room was a disaster and if she wanted to leave before nightfall she could use a hand.  So she agreed, and they set about putting her room to rights.  Gale asked about her Thanksgiving plans (her friend’s place, since he was a baker) and she inquired about his (his mother’s, since she was the best cook in the universe, and yes, she could quote him on that).  Madge stacked her binders into a box to take to her car—aside from Thanksgiving dinner, her only plans for the long weekend involved getting ahead on December’s lesson plans—and to her surprise Gale plucked it from her hands and tilted his head toward the door.  “I’ve got this.  I’ll walk you out,” he told her with a soft smile, making it hard for her to look him in the eye.

The staff parking lot was deserted in the weak twilight, the streetlights popping on as they stepped out.  Madge unlocked her car and tossed her bag in as Gale slid the box into the backseat.  He slammed the door and she stood awkwardly behind the open driver’s side door, jiggling her keys and trying to figure out how to say good bye.   _You’ve had parents help you before_ , she scolded herself,  _I mean sure they’ve mostly been women around your age and not ridiculously handsome men who should really not be allowed to wear button downs like he does, like, Jesus Christ it ought to be illegal, but still, this is nothing more than a parent helping a teacher._   She lifted her eyes to his, ready to say good bye, but she found herself trapped in his gaze.  The door still between them, he stepped forward, cupped her face in his large, warm hands and kissed her.  The November air was bitingly cold, but the only thing she felt was the warmth of his hands on her cheeks and the softness of his lips.  She was dizzy, she couldn’t move, couldn’t  _think_ , but when he pinned his forehead to hers and whispered, “I had to.  At least once,” everything came rushing back.

Madge tried to step away, but the car was in the way and she just awkwardly bumped into it instead.  She dropped her keys and hastily bent down to grab them and then frantically searched the parking lot for anyone else who might have seen.  Luckily, it seemed that all the other teachers had taken advantage of the chaos at the end of the day to sneak out from under Coin’s watchful eye. 

They were alone in the parking lot and Gale had just kissed her.  No, not just kissed— _really_  kissed. He was watching her, his eyes concerned.  “I’m sorry,” she started, “I shouldn’t have—I can’t.  You’re a parent.  I—we—I can’t.  This—this could be bad.  For me.  And for Juniper too, actually.  I could—I could lose my job.”  Madge was stammering, but she couldn’t help herself.  Her heart was racing and her lips were still tingling, and she had to  _get away_.

Gale stepped back, his grey eyes still burning into her.  “Okay,” he whispered, then cleared his throat.  “Okay.”  It was stronger that time.  “I’m sorry.”  Then he turned on his heel and strode off for the visitor’s parking lot, glancing back at her every few steps.

 

_December_

Madge didn’t see Gale at all the next month and wasn’t sure how she felt about it.  On the one hand, she was glad he was respecting her wishes.  On the other hand, she really wanted to kiss him again.  She did get a Christmas present from Juniper, however; a gift card to a new restaurant in town.  Madge supposed Gale (whom she assumed had chosen the present) had no way of knowing that her best friend actually owned that restaurant.  Still, it was a nice gift, and Madge felt a little floaty whenever she thought of it.  On the last day before break, Madge was outside handling bus duty and she saw Hazelle’s familiar car pull into the lot.  Hazelle wasn’t alone, however, and Juniper tore past Madge to jump into the arms of the slight woman who got out of the passenger seat.  For a split second, Madge thought  her mother had reappeared, but Juniper was squealing “Katniss!” over and over again, so that ruled out Johanna.  Part of Madge wondered—hoped, really—that Katniss was another relative (the Hawthorne family appeared to be immense), but the sinking feeling in her stomach hinted otherwise.  So she turned back to her charges and shooed them on the bus, anxious for break to get started already.

She treated Delly to dinner at the restaurant with the gift card during the awkward week between Christmas and New Years’, when most people are still wrapped up in family events or out of town.  It was delicious, as she knew it would be, and Peeta snuck out of the kitchen for a quick visit just as Delly began grilling her about the provenance of the gift card.

“Let me get this straight,” said Delly, “this was a gift from a  _parent.”_

Peeta sat down at their table, brushing quick kisses across each of their cheeks.  “Wait, what?” he asked.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.  Aren’t teacher gifts usually things like candles or lotion?  Not, like, dinner-for-two-at-a-nice-restaurant?”

“Yeah, usually.”

“So who gave you this?   _Please_  tell me it was Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome.”

“ _Who?_  I’m missing something.  Someone fill me in.”  Peeta looked confused, glancing between Delly and Madge, who was refusing to look either of them in the eye.

“Little Miss Innocent over here has a  _really hot_  single dad as one of her parents this year.  And he flirts with her every chance he gets,  _and_  judging by her reluctance to say who gave her this, I’m betting this gift card is from  _him_.”

Madge bit her lip.  She hadn’t told Delly about the kiss and didn’t want to—not only could it get her in trouble if anyone found out, and Delly wasn’t exactly known for her discretion–but it seemed private somehow. 

“Look at her face!” Delly crowed. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Yes, Delly,” Madge sighed.  “It’s from him.  But I can’t do anything about it, okay?  You know that.  I would probably lose my job if I dated a parent.  So it’s just a really nice Christmas gift, and nothing more.”

Peeta reached out and rubbed her forearm.  “Hey now, don’t be like that.  His kid isn’t going to be your student forever, right?  So just hang in there until the end of the year, and if it’s still there you can give it a shot, right?”

Madge smiled.  “Well, aren’t you the optimist.  What’s gotten into you?”

He blushed, the tips of his ears turning bright red.  “I’m, um, I’m sort of seeing someone right now.  She’s great, you guys.  You’ll love her,” he gushed, a giant smile plastered on his face.

Grateful for a change of subject, Madge seized on Peeta’s love life.  “Okay, spill.  I want details.”  But just then a server came bustling over to the table, and Peeta was called away on urgent restaurant business.  Madge changed the subject and Delly obliged, and there was no more discussion of Gale—or her feelings about and/or for him—that evening.

 

_January_

Madge’s favorite and least favorite part of being a kindergarten teacher was all the extra activities—Harvest Festival, Field Day in the spring, and in the January doldrums: Winter Concert.  Since the district had cut their music instructor down to part time and shared between all the elementary schools, Madge’s students only had music once or twice a month.  Which meant that even though the music teacher did her best to pick an easy-to-learn song for the kindergarteners, Madge had spent most of their free time the past two weeks helping them practice the song and hand motions.  And now she was back at the school gym, freshly changed into a nice pink dress and heels, and trying to corral her students into a line in the hall and keep them quiet.  Juniper was near the front of the line, nervously twisting her hands together.  Madge had taken them into the gym earlier in the day (and had the gym teacher turn off the lights near the bleachers) to get her students used to the set up.  The older kids generally loved the way that made it feel like a real concert, but the darkness and bright lights had made more than one of her students skittish in the past and she liked for them to be prepared.  As they returned to the classroom that afternoon, Madge had felt a small hand tug on her sweater.  She turned to find Juniper with tears welling in her big brown eyes.  She crouched down.  “What is it?”

Juniper sniffled.  “If it’s dark, will I be able to see my daddy?”

“I think so.  It won’t be that dark.  And I bet if you ask him, he’ll sit near the front so you know where he is.”  Madge was a little surprised by Juniper’s hesitation—Juniper had loved singing for Harvest Festival—but the Winter Concert was a bigger deal than just singing in your classroom.  The rest of the students were reveling in their free time activities, but Juniper didn’t run off to join them.  “Is something else bothering you, Juniper?”

“Daddy always gives me a hug when I’m scared.”

For a second, Madge was lost.  What did that have to do with—oh.  “Did you want a hug?”

Juniper nodded, still sniffling.  Madge pulled her into a hug, trying to ignore the way her heart twisted as Juniper wound her arms around her neck.

When their turn to enter the gym came, Madge led them in, giving Juniper’s shoulder a friendly squeeze, and helped them arrange themselves on the risers and then darted to her seat as the song began.  She risked a glance at the families on the bleachers, hoping for a glimpse of Gale.  She still hadn’t seen or spoken to him since that night in November and wasn’t sure if she was desperate to see him or desperate to avoid him.  She saw him sitting in the front, like she’d hoped for Juniper’s sake.  There was an enormous crew with him—Madge recognized his mother and sister, and the two young men in their early twenties had to be his brothers.  It was when families stepped forward at the end of the concert to retrieve their children that Madge saw her again: Katniss.  The woman who had come to pick Juniper up right before Christmas.  Gale casually draped his arm over her shoulders as Katniss elbowed him in the stomach.  Their easy physical intimacy was like a punch to the gut.  Madge turned away and melted into the darkness in the back of the gym.   _He has a girlfriend?  Since when?  Was he with her in November?  Or is this something new?  But if it’s new, why does she seem like she knows his entire family?_   Her thoughts were racing, and she couldn’t stay a moment longer.  Madge knew she should circulate a bit and talk to the rest of her students’ parents, but she couldn’t.  So she grabbed her purse and snuck out a side door, never once looking back.  Not even when she felt his eyes on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a good reason that Gale says his line from the book to Madge, I promise.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor trigger warning for a discussion of addiction.

_February_

Madge was feeling restless.  It was the Friday after Valentine’s Day (which she’d spent with Delly, since Peeta was now permanently busy with either his restaurant or his new yet-to-be-named girlfriend) and Madge was going out of her skin.  She grabbed her phone and texted Delly.

 

< _I feel like making bad decisions tonight.  Want to go out for drinks and do things we’ll regret tomorrow? >_

Delly responded instantly.  < _YES.  I love Madge-on-a-mission.  Mind if I bring Octavia? We can be your wing-lesbians. >_

_< Dell, you’re bi not a lesbian.>_

_< Yeah, well I’m a lesbian TONIGHT.  Sound good?>_

Octavia was Delly’s latest interest.  She was sweet, but Madge personally thought that someone as sweet as Delly needed a partner with a bit more bite to him or her.  But it wasn’t  _Madge’s_ love life, so she agreed.  She threw herself into getting ready, pulling on her tightest pair of skinny jeans and a dark blue flannel shirt that was a little too tight that she left a little too unbuttoned.  She was not feeling like Madge Undersee, Kindergarten Teacher With Lots Of Cardigans tonight.  No, tonight was for smoky eye makeup and unruly hair and entirely too much cleavage.  If she was honest with herself—which she really didn’t feel like being—she was still upset about Gale’s girlfriend.  And while getting dolled up and going to a bar with the goal of picking up a stranger seemed like a not-great and kind of immature way to deal with rejection, it was what she wanted to do.  So she pulled on her highest-heeled boots and drove to the bar she’d chosen.

The bar was hot and humid, in the way that only places full of bodies on a cold winter night can be.  The three of them secured spots on the side of the bar while Delly and Octavia scanned the bar for eligible single men for Madge.  “Delly said you like ‘em tall and dark haired, right?” Octavia asked, standing on her tiptoes.  “Because if so, there’s a whole pack of ‘em over near the dartboard.” Madge craned her neck, making a mental note to yell at Delly later for giving Octavia that description.

“Oh  _shit_ ,” she hissed as she caught Gale’s eye.  “Delly, that’s  _him_.”

“Who?  Hot Dad?  He’s here?  Aren’t we mad at him or something?”  Madge had told Delly that she wasn’t interested in Gale anymore, but that was it.

“No, we’re not  _mad._   He just has a girlfriend, that’s all.”  Madge turned her back quickly, hoping that he hadn’t actually seen her.

“Well, he’s sans girlfriend and coming this way,” Octavia announced.  “Want us to stay or leave?”

“Guys, it’s…it’s whatever.  Just stay.  I’m sure he’s just coming over to be polite.”  Madge felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to find Gale standing there.  With her boots on she was fairly tall, but he still towered over her.

“Hey.”  His mouth was cocked into a half grin, his eyes quickly darting toward her chest and then back up.

“Hey,” Madge responded a little more stiffly than she intended.   _Stop acting wounded.  He kissed you and you turned him down.  He’s allowed to have a girlfriend._   “Um, these are my friends.  This is Delly and this is Octavia.  Guys, this is Gale Hawthorne.”

Gale nodded to the girls and pointed to the group of men across the bar.  “That’s Thom and some of our old high school friends.  June’s at my mom’s and he dragged me out tonight.”  At Gale’s nod the rest of his group waved cheerfully back—apparently his high school only allowed you to attend if you were over six foot and dark haired–but his gaze quickly returned to Madge.  “I’ve gotta say, this doesn’t really seem like your scene,” he ventured.

Madge looked around.  The bar was a little bit more dive-y than she normally liked, but this place was known for being packed with guys, and Madge sort of had an agenda tonight.  An agenda that Gale was quickly tanking.  She shrugged.  “Wanted something different.  Where’s Katniss?” Madge tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Gale gave her a strange look.  “No idea.  Probably out with her boyfriend, I’d imagine.”  He watched her reaction closely as she tried to hide her surprise and confusion.  “How do you know her?”

Madge shrugged non-committally, feeling awkward.

“Ah, fuck.  Did you think we were together?  She’s been saying that we need to wear signs that say “not dating” and I’m starting to think she’s right.  Katniss is an old friend—she just finished grad school and moved back to town.  I took her out to celebrate at that new restaurant—you know, the one I got you a gift card to—and it took the owner  _weeks_  to ask her out because he thought we were together.  I guess they ran into each other at the grocery store and he did anyway.  Which, you know, dick move on his part, since he thought she was with me, but I guess it all worked out in the end.”

Madge tried to process all that information, but one thing stuck in her head.  “Wait, is Katniss dating _Peeta?”_

“How do  _you_ know Peeta?” he asked at the same time Delly asked, “Wait,  _who’s_  dating Peeta?”

The three of them stared back and forth at each other until Octavia broke the silence.  “Well, I don’t know  _either_  of them, so…”

It took some untangling, but eventually, everyone understood exactly how everyone knew everyone else.  “Right, well, now that that’s settled, Octavia and I, are, um, going to be, um, over there for a bit,” Delly declared.  She grabbed Octavia by the arm and pulled her away, ignoring the daggers Madge was staring at her.

Gale smothered a smile.  “Your friends are real subtle, aren’t they?”

Madge felt herself flush a bit, due to both Delly’s obviousness the way he was looking at her.  She took a sip of her drink just for something to do and groped for a subject change.  “So, Juniper’s with your mom?”

“Yeah, she takes June for a weekend every month.  Says it’s payback for all the babysitting I did after Dad died.  Usually I just run errands and stuff, but Thom convinced me to come out to tonight.”

Madge took another sip of her drink.  Somehow, the bar was getting more and more crowded and even louder than before.  She searched for another topic, but all her brain kept saying was  _why did you kiss me?_  and  _why haven’t you done it again?_  and  _I should have said we could just keep it a secret instead of pushing you away,_ and  _for fuck’s sake just kiss me again,_ but none of those things seemed like great conversation starters.  Madge went to take another drink, but her glass was empty.  She awkwardly set it on the bar, avoiding his eyes.

Gale leaned over so his lips were by her ear.  “It’s kind of noisy and sweaty in here—want to step outside for some air?”  Madge nodded and slid off her stool, grabbing her coat that had been draped over the seat.  She motioned to Delly—who was standing awfully close to Octavia a good twenty feet away from Madge—that she was headed toward the back porch.  Delly responded with a rather obscene gesture involving her fingers and her tongue, which sent Octavia into paroxysms of laughter and made Madge give her the finger.  Fortunately, Gale had his back turned and missed it. 

He shouldered his way through the crowd and she trailed after him until someone accidentally elbowed her and she fell into his back.  After that, Gale kept her to his side with one arm protectively around her.  The back porch was deserted save for one grumpy looking bartender on a smoke break, the freezing air having driven everyone else inside.  Madge tugged her coat on against the chill.

Gale rested his hip against the railing and smiled.  “There.  This is better, don’t you think?”  Madge returned his smile, her brain still suggesting very inappropriate things to say to him.  “I’m glad I saw you tonight,” he continued, “because I’ve been meaning to apologize for November.  I think I might have crossed a line there, and I’m sorry.”

The bartender ground out his cigarette and headed back inside as Madge waved away Gale’s concerns.  “No, you have nothing to apologize for.  I just get a little skittish when it comes to school policies.  A few years ago the gym teacher had an affair with a student’s father and it got out and it was a  _whole big thing_  and the gym teacher eventually lost her job.  Of course, she and the parent were both married, so it was a bit more scandalous than just a relationship, but, you know, it could be bad, that’s all.”

Gale grimaced.  “An affair with the gym teacher, huh?  Man, and I thought my divorce was rough.”  Madge couldn’t help it—she was curious. So she raised an eyebrow, hoping he’d keep talking.  He did.  “Right, you don’t know the story.” He sighed, gathering his thoughts.  “Jo and I were together all through college, and in hindsight, there were a bunch of red flags, but I ignored them.  We got married right away, bought a house, and she was pregnant in under a year.  I think we thought that if we  _forced_ ourselves to be a perfect family, somehow, we would be.  Jo had always been a big drinker, but when she was pregnant with Juniper she stopped cold turkey and it seemed like she was fine.  And maybe she was, for a while.”  He looked down at his beer bottle, picking at the label.  “Anyway, long story short, when June was nine months old I came home from work and Jo was passed out cold on the couch, June screaming her head off in her crib.  Jo didn’t know how long she’d been out of it.”  He looked away, staring blankly at the back of the bar.  “She tried rehab.  Couple of times, actually, but it never stuck.  Eventually, she just up and left.  Said I’d forced her into a life she never wanted.  She disappeared for months and only came back to sign the divorce papers.  She shows up every so often to see June, and sends birthday cards and stuff, but that’s it.  We don’t know where she is right now, and sometimes I think it might be better that way.” Gale clenched his hand into a fist.  “And yeah.  That’s it.  That’s our shitty story.”

Madge felt her heart crack slightly, her memories of growing up with a mom who couldn’t function without pills rising to the surface.  She didn’t know what was worse—knowing her mom couldn’t handle her without chemical assistance, or just not having a mom around at all.  She ached for Juniper and for Gale.  She rested her hand lightly on his sleeve and he finally looked at her.  Gale shook his head slightly.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be such a downer.  You’re probably freezing.  I’ll let you go back inside.”

Now it was Madge’s turn to shake her head.  “No,” she said softly, “I’m good right here.”  She moved her hand down his arm and took his hand in hers.  It was cold outside, but his hand was warm on hers.

Gale looked at her for a moment and carefully set his beer bottle down on the railing.  “Fuck it,” he mumbled, and then dipped his head to capture her lips in a bruising kiss.  Madge responded eagerly, twining her arms around his neck and brushing her tongue along his.  His hands held her at her waist, steadying her, and she could have stayed there forever except someone opened the door just then, letting out a blast of noise from inside the bar.  They sprang apart, looking wildly at the intruder, who was fortunately very, very drunk.

Madge let out a shaky breath.  “Want to get out of here?” she asked.  It was a bad idea.  A verybad idea, in fact, but she was feeling reckless.

“Fuck yes,” he breathed.  “Need to go tell your friends?  Otherwise, my car is parked in the back lot.”

“Mine too.  And nope. The girls will be fine.”  She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs and towards the back lot.  She jumped into her car and sent Delly a quick < _Going home with him. No sass from you >_ text and peeled out after Gale’s silver SUV.  He lived nearby, and fortunately had a two-car garage with an empty space, allowing her to pull her car in.  The last thing she needed was a parent noticing her car in his driveway, and since he lived in her school’s attendance area that was a very real possibility.  Gale closed the garage door and they walked into his house together, her heart thudding in her ears.

Gale turned to kiss her as they stood in his kitchen, but then he pulled back and closed his eyes tightly.  “Fuck.  Condoms.  I don’t think I have any.”

Madge raised her purse.  “Former Girl Scout here.  I’ve got some.”

He grinned at her.  “Girl Scouts, eh?  We’ll have to talk about that some other time.  Right now…” he bent then and put his shoulder into her stomach, lifting her up in a fireman’s hold.  “Hang on to that purse.  We’re going to need those,” he declared and took off through the kitchen and up the stairs, her peals of laughter echoing through the empty house.  Gale set her down in his room, smiling at her giggles and kissing her thoroughly.  She threaded her fingers into his hair as his hands trailed down her back, pulling her close.

Gale blazed a path of kisses down her neck, sucking on her collarbone and moving to the valley between her breasts.  One hand slid up her back under her shirt as the other traveled lower, cupping her ass.  She busied herself with unbuttoning his shirt as he kissed her neck, laving his tongue wherever he nipped at her with his teeth.  Madge pushed the shirt off his shoulders just as he pulled back and started undoing her buttons.  Gale groaned loudly at the sight of her black lace bra and dropped to his knees, pressing kisses into the soft curve of her stomach as she stroked his hair.  He urged her towards the bed and she sat down, watching as he pulled off first her boots and then her socks, one by one.  She stood then, shedding her shirt and bra completely and unzipping her jeans.  Gale helped her peel her jeans down her legs, still on his knees, and then he hooked his fingers in her underwear and tugged them down as well.  She put a hand on his shoulder for balance as she stepped out of them, and then with one searing glance at her Gale sat back on his haunches, nudged her legs farther apart and licked a long, slow stripe up her center.  Madge keened, her knees suddenly weak, but Gale kept his hands on her hips, holding her steady while his thumbs spread her for his mouth.  She had the fleeting thought that  _this can’t possibly be comfortable for him_  but when his tongue entered her all rational thought left her mind.  Her hands tangled in his hair and pulled hard as she tried to ground herself.  Her hips chased his mouth until he tilted his head back and gave her a wolfish grin.  “Patience,” he admonished in a deep voice, bending forward once more.  Madge came screaming his name.  She flopped back on the bed, no longer able to stand, and threw an arm over her face.

Gale stood, wiping his mouth on the back of his arm and giving her another wolfish grin.  “Enjoying yourself, princess?” he asked.

Madge giggled, peeking out at him from under her arm.  “You could say that.”  Gale climbed onto the bed next to her, still in his jeans.  She rolled to face him.  “You’re going to have to give me a minute to recover though.  And do something about these,” she said as she curled her fingers into the waistband of his jeans.

“Yes ma’am.” He sprang out of bed to push his jeans and boxer-briefs down.  Madge pulled herself up toward the pillows, her legs still feeling like jelly. 

“Oh, and the condoms are in my bag.  Could you–?” she asked.

Gale rifled quickly through her purse and pulled out a small foil packet that he placed on his nightstand as he returned to the bed.  He laid next to her, lightly trailing his fingers over her side as she turned to face him.  Gale brought his hand to her face, skimming his thumb over her cheekbone and sliding his fingers into her hair.  “Hey there,” he whispered.

“Hey yourself,” she whispered back, leaning over to kiss him.  He gathered her to him, pressing the length of his body against hers.  Gale moved to roll them over but she shifted her weight and rolled on top of him instead, her earlier exhaustion forgotten in the face of her growing need.  Madge reached for the condom but got distracted as Gale lifted his head and captured her nipple in his mouth, freezing her in place as she reveled in the sensation of his tongue teasing her breast.  Finally she remembered her task and grabbed the condom, scooting back slightly to roll it on him.  Part of her wanted to stop, to use her mouth on him like he’d done to her, but another part of her ached to have him inside her, so she rose slightly on her knees and sank down on him.  “Fuck,” she breathed, “ _fuck_  you feel good.”  Gale merely groaned in response, thrusting up into her, reaching deeper than she thought possible.  Madge leaned forward and braced herself against his shoulders, pushing herself up and down as his hands rested on her waist, pulling her against him.  Each thrust of his hips pushed him farther, deeper, filling her entirely.  She felt his thrusts become uneven and knew he was close, so she sped up slightly and was rewarded by her name spilling from his lips as he came.

Exhausted, she collapsed forward onto his chest.  She was sweaty and sticky and so was he as he laughed and pushed her hair back, cupping her face in his hands and pulling her up for a kiss.  Madge rested her forehead on his, still breathless.  “So,” he said in between kisses, “how’s that whole ‘not dating parents of your students’ thing going?’”

“Mmm…not great,” she laughed, shifting off of him and sprawling out on her stomach.  “Although I’m reasonably sure what we just did doesn’t really qualify as ‘dating.’” 

Gale chuckled and tied off the condom, tossing it in a small trashcan near the bed.  “Is that so?” he teased as he kissed her shoulder.

“Mmmph.”  Madge was already sleepy, and his bed smelled really good.  Clean, but also like him. 

“Hey.  Sleeping Beauty.”  He nudged her gently.

“Mmmph,” she said again.

“Do you need to leave early tomorrow morning?  So no one sees you? I can set an alarm.”

 _Oh, right.  That._   “What time does Juniper get back?”

“I go get her on Sunday, actually.”

“Mmkay.  Any neighbors that go to our school?” she yawned.

“Just one, down the street.  And I think they’re gone this weekend.”

“’Kay.  Then I’ll just stay, and if anyone sees me leaving we’ll just say you’re, I dunno, helping with a class project or something.”

“Helping with a class project or something?  That’s your brilliant plan?” he smirked.

“Yes.  Now shut it.  I’m sleepy.”

Gale chuckled again and settled down next to her, pressing one last kiss to her shoulder as she fell asleep.

 

A tiny  _beep_  woke her the next morning.  Madge looked blearily at the clock—7:30am.  She heard the _beep_  again, coming from the general direction of her purse.  Gale shifted as well.  “Was that your phone or mine?” he asked, his voice rough with sleep. 

“Pretty sure it was mine.  Probably just Delly, checking to make sure you didn’t murder me or something.”

“Need to respond?”

“Nah.  I’ll text her later.”  Madge rolled to her side and curled into Gale, resting her head on his chest.  “Let’s just sleep some more.  This is nice.”

“It is,” he agreed, stroking her hair.

The sound of the front door opening woke them next.  “Gale?” a woman’s voice called.  “Gale, are you awake?”

Gale bolted upright, dislodging her from his chest. “Shit,” he hissed, “that’s my mom.”

Madge froze.  “What?”

“Stay here.  I’ll go see what’s up.”  Gale dug a pair of shorts and an undershirt from his dresser, throwing them on and closing the door behind him.

Madge could hear them talking downstairs, but their voices were hushed and she couldn’t make out the words.  She rolled to the edge of the bed and reached out her arm, trying to gather her clothes without the tell tale sound of footsteps and while staying under the covers just in case.  She’d managed to wiggle into her panties and jeans and was hooking her bra when Gale returned, ducking back into his room and closing the door.  “Hey, so, June’s got the stomach flu and Ma brought her back early.  I guess that was my phone this morning,” he whispered.  Madge grimaced, remembering her dismissal of the noise.  “It’s fine—Ma’s putting her to bed now and then she’ll go home.”

“Does she…does your mom know I’m here?”

Gale winced as footsteps passed in the hallway and lowered his voice to barely a whisper.  “I think she’s guessed, but she won’t ask and doesn’t know it’s you.  June’s pretty out of it and will just be in her room, so once Ma leaves you can go.”  Madge nodded, buttoning up her shirt.  He sat next to her on the bed.  “I’m sorry, I wanted…well, this isn’t how I wanted you to leave.”

“It’s fine, really,” she said, shaking her head.  “We should probably talk some time this weekend, though.”

“Yeah, probably.”  He took her face in his hands, using his thumbs to gently wipe away a bit of what she knew to be very smeared eyeliner under her eyes.  He kissed her softly and slipped out the door.  She switched her phone to silent grabbed his phone from the floor near her purse—it must have fallen out of his pocket last night—and typed in her number, calling her phone with it so she’d have his number as well.  Madge waited until she heard the front door close and his mother’s car pull out before tiptoeing back to the garage, opening the door and driving away.

Gale called at 9pm that night, sounding thoroughly worn out.  “How’s Juniper?” Madge asked, answering on the second ring.  Maybe it was overeager, but she had spent the day thinking about him.

“She’ll be fine.  I’m going to keep her home on Monday though, just in case.  How are you doing?”

“I’m…good,” Madge said, curling up in her favorite armchair.

“Just good, huh?  Not great?  I might have to do something about that.” She could hear the teasing lilt in his voice and it sent a pang of sadness through her.

“Yeah, just good.  Look, Gale, I really like you.  I do.  And last night was…”

“Fucking amazing?”

In spite of herself, she smiled.  “Yeah.  Fucking amazing.  But—“

“But you can’t be seen dating the parent of a student.”

“Yeah, that.”  She’d spent the day telling herself it wasn’t  _that_  long to wait, that the school year would be over before she knew it, but the thought of spending just over four months (18 weeks, not that she’d counted) without him was almost physically painful.

Gale heaved a sigh.  “I thought as much.  For what it’s worth, I’d help you find a new job if you want to say fuck it and just go for it.”

Madge squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to break.  “Thanks, but—“

“No, I know.  Just thought I’d offer.  So now, what, we wait?”

“We wait.  Once the school year is over, we should be fine.”

He groaned.  “It’s going to kill me to wait that long, you know.”

“I know.  Me too.”  They sat in silence for a moment, both knowing the conversation was over and unwilling to be the one to end it.  Finally, Madge spoke.  “I should let you go.  You sound tired.  You take care, Gale.”

“Yeah, you too.  G’night, Madge.”  He sounded dejected and she almost stopped him and changed her mind, but then he disconnected and the moment was gone.  Madge grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it to her chest, knowing she’d made the right call but hating it all the same.


	4. Chapter 4

_March_

 

“Yes, I know, I understand your concern.  Have a nice evening.”  Madge waved good bye to Zayden’s awful parents, relieved that their portion of parent-teacher conferences were over.  They were the sort of parents who believed that their child was a perfect little angel and any problems surrounding him were the fault of either Madge or the other students.  They hadn’t forgotten his run-in with Juniper either, repeatedly asking about “that little brat who hit him” and whether or not Madge was taking adequate steps to protect their innocent little Zayden from her.  Madge had tried to explain that while Juniper’s actions weren’t acceptable, Zayden needed to learn to be nicer to his classmates, but his parents weren’t having any of it, insisting that if Zayden said anything that upset Juniper it was merely the truth and Juniper needed to learn some self-control.  Madge longed to point out that  _she_  was currently exercising wonderful self-control, as she mostly wanted to tear Glimmer’s hair out by the roots, but instead she just dug her nails into her palm some more and tightly explained that being kind is more important than being right.  When they were safely out of sight Madge slumped against the wall, furious with Zayden’s parents for being so awful.

She glanced at the clock and her heart sank—7:45.  Conferences ended at 8pm, and there weren’t any other parents in the hall waiting for her.  Normally, this would be a blessing, but Gale hadn’t shown.  It wasn’t like him to miss a conference and she hoped he wasn’t avoiding her.  They hadn’t spoken since their phone call in February, although she’d picked up her phone several dozen times to text him but never went through with it.  She had started straightening her room to kill some time before she could officially leave when he appeared in her doorway carrying two big plastic bags that smelled suspiciously like Chinese take out.

“Hey there,” he grinned, striding towards her desk.

Madge shut the door (it was what she did with other parents, after all) and joined him at the desk.  “God, that smells  _wonderful_.  I’m starving.  Is some of this for me?”

Gale busied himself setting out several take out containers.  “Nope.  As I understand it, teachers aren’t supposed to eat in front of parents.  So all of this is mine.”  He offered a plastic fork in her direction and grinned.  “So if your principal walks in, that’s what we’ll say, okay?”

She could have kissed him, but restrained herself and sat down across from him.  They dug into the food, eating quietly for a few minutes.  “So, how’s she doing?” Gale asked a bit later.

“Really well,” Madge mumbled around a mouthful of egg roll.  “She’s reading ahead of grade level, as I’m sure you know, and she’s been working very hard on her temper.  She hasn’t had any, um, _disagreements_  with her classmates in probably two weeks.  Aside from a rather overly-developed sense of justice, she’s really a wonderful kid.”

“Overly-developed sense of justice? By that I assume you mean she’s obsessed with things being  _fair_.”

“Pretty much.  It’s not unusual at her age, although she’s quite adamant when she feels either she or her friends have been wronged.  It’s not a bad quality, just one she might want to learn to deploy a little more judiciously.”  Madge reached for the container of pork, but Gale playfully knocked her fork away with his and stole it.  She narrowed her eyes at him and grabbed the rest of the chicken and broccoli in retaliation, earning her a wink.

“She really loves you, you know,” Gale said solemnly. 

Madge shrugged.  “Kids get attached to their teachers, especially when they’re this young.”

“No, it’s not that, trust me.  I had to practically drag Posy from her first grade classroom because she was so devastated over leaving her teacher, so I know what that looks like.  This is something different.  June…she  _worships_  you.”

Madge blushed, not sure what to say.  The way he was looking at her wasn’t helping.  It also reminded her of another quandary she found herself in—she adored Juniper, true, but liking a student and possibly-signing-on-as-a-step-mother were two totally different things. Not that she thought Gale wanted to marry her, it was just that dating someone with a child was a whole different ball game than she was used to.  She looked down at her food, biting the inside of her cheek.  Gale’s hand was resting on the desk, a mere six inches from hers.  So even though it was risky, she reached out and brushed the tips of her fingers against his.  It wasn’t quite holding his hand, but she needed to feel him.  Madge looked up and smiled and so did he.  They sat there, their finger tips just touching, for longer than they probably should, until a janitor opened the door and startled them both.  Gale hastily packed up the rest of the food and bid her good bye as though she was no more than his kid’s teacher while the janitor starting sweeping the floor.  Madge drove home that night wondering if she could hold out until June.  Right now, it didn’t seem possible.

 

_April_

Madge’s students were enjoying a moment of free time at the end of a long day when the administrative secretary poked her head in.  “Ms. Undersee?  You’re needed down in the office.  I can watch your class for you.”

Madge was surprised, but thanked Mrs. Trinkett and hurried down the hall, mentally crossing her fingers that Coin hadn’t somehow found out about her and Gale.  Aside from their near slip-up at conferences, they’d been very careful.  He called sometimes after Juniper went to bed, but they hadn’t seen each other since.  Madge drew near Coin’s office and heard what sounded like an angry woman—the voice wasn’t Coin’s, however.  Maybe Juniper and Zayden had another run-in and Glimmer had gone over Madge’s head?  Madge opened the door and braced herself.

“—and she’s  _my_  fucking child, so I’m not going to sit here and let some middle aged  _bitch_  tell me I can’t see her.”  The speaker whirled around in her chair to look at Madge.  “Great, who the fuck is this?”

Principal Coin stood, completely ignoring the petite brunette’s outburst.  “Thank you for coming down, Ms. Undersee.  This is Ms. Mason—I understand her to be the mother of one of your students.”

For a second, Madge blanked—she didn’t have a Mason in her class, did she?  But the way the small woman crossed her arms and scowled at Madge seemed vaguely familiar.  Then it hit her.   _Oh, shit.  Juniper.  She looks like Juniper_.

Juniper’s mother tossed her head, a movement somewhat derailed by the fact that she had exceedingly short and spiky hair, almost as if she’d shaved it recently.  “Oh for fuck’s sake.  I’m Johanna, not  _Ms. Mason_.  And I’m hear to pick up Juniper, so could someone just explain what the  _fucking hold up_  is?”

Madge sat down next to Johanna, desperately clinging to a veneer of professionalism.  “It’s nice to meet you, Johanna.  I’m Ms. Undersee, Juniper’s teacher.”  Madge glanced at Coin, who motioned for her to continue.  Apparently, Coin had no desire to jump into the fray herself.  “I think the problem is that students can only be signed out of school by someone on the pre-approved list.”

“I’m her  _fucking mother_.  Put me on the list.”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.  We can’t add someone to the list without the permission of the person who handed in the original list.” 

“Fucking Gale,” Johanna muttered. “Fucking figures that he wouldn’t put me on the damn list.  Prick.”  She sized Madge up.  “Has he tried to fuck you yet?  Because if he hasn’t, I promise he will.”

Madge sat back, Johanna’s harsh words feeling like a slap.  Still, Coin sat there, her hands folded, impassively watching the two of them like they were a tennis match.  “Ms. Mason, really,” Madge scolded, putting the full force of her teacher-voice behind her words,  “I’m sure we can come to a solution, but I’m going to need you to treat me with some respect.”

Johanna gave an exaggerated eye roll.  “Fine, whatever.  How do I get on the stupid list?”

“If I give Mr. Hawthorne a call and he agrees, I think that would be enough.  Principal Coin?”

Coin nodded.  “Parent’s numbers are out in the front office, Ms. Undersee.  I’ll keep Ms. Mason company while you handle that, yes?”

Madge went back into the deserted front office and dialed Gale, grateful that Johanna and Coin were behind a closed door, just in case her familiarity with Gale was a tip off.  He answered right away. “Gale?  It’s Madge.  Juniper’s fine, but…shit.  There’s no easy way to say this.  Johanna’s here and she wants to see Juniper.”

“Johanna’s  _what?”_

“She’s here.  And she’s demanding to be allowed to pick up Juniper.”

“No.   _Fuck no._   Under no circumstances are you to allow that woman to leave with my daughter.”

Madge sighed.  “I don’t think she’s going to take no for an answer.  Any chance you can come down?”

Gale echoed her sigh.  “Yeah, I’ll be right there.  I’ll call Ma and tell her so she doesn’t come to pick June up, but just in case I miss her, tell Ma to just leave Juniper with you, okay?”

“Got it.  And Gale?  I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.  Thanks.”  He hung up and Madge steeled herself for yet another onslaught as she went back into Coin’s office.

“Ms. Mason?  I just spoke with Mr. Hawthorne and he’s on his way so you two can come to an agreement.”

“That fucking prick.  He wouldn’t agree, would he?  No, of course not.  So what now, Ms. Frizzle?”

Madge ignored what she assumed was a dig at her hair and brightly patterned dress.  “Once you and Juniper’s father come to an agreement you can see her.  In the mean time, the day is almost over she can stay in my room until it’s time for her to go home.”  Madge stood and at Coin’s nod of dismissal left the room.  She started walking quickly toward her room—Mrs. Trinkett’s outrageous clothes were a hit with the students and she certainly adored them in return, but her classroom management skills were a bit lacking and Madge shuddered to think of the utter zoo she was headed back to.  She heard footsteps behind her and someone grabbed her upper arm, twisting her around forcefully.

Johanna stepped close to her.  “You know, you never answered when I asked if you were fucking him,” she hissed.

Madge took a step back and twisted her arm out of Johanna’s vice-like grip.  “Ms. Mason, this is inappropriate.”

Johanna snorted.  “Yeah, thought so.  What did he do, push you up against a wall to kiss you and say ‘he just had to do it?’  That’s his fucking line, you know, ‘I had to.’  God, fucking the kindergarten teacher.  What a fucking cliché.”  Johanna turned and stalked back to the office, leaving Madge to rub her upper arm and hope that Coin didn’t take Jo’s accusations seriously.

As the students filed out at the end of the day, Gale stuck his head in.  “Daddy!” Juniper squealed, thrilled at the surprise.  He crouched to hug her and ruffle her hair.  “Hey June-bug, I’ve got a meeting here.  Can you play with Ms. Undersee for a while?”

Madge stepped over toward them.  “It’s really nice outside, so I was thinking Juniper and I could go out on the playground for a bit—does that sound good?”  Juniper jumped for joy and Gale shot her a grateful smile.  She wanted to warn him what he was walking into—especially Johanna’s accusations—but she hadn’t had time to text him and didn’t know how to tell him with so many witnesses around.  She’d just have to pray that he could handle whatever Johanna threw at him.

Juniper was on the swings when Gale and Johanna finally emerged from the school.  They were walking side by side, although Madge could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was tense.  Johanna made a beeline for Juniper as Gale slowly made his way to Madge.  They watched silently as Juniper jumped off the swings and ran into Johanna’s waiting arms.  Johanna held her tightly, her eyes wet.  Madge turned to Gale and raised an eyebrow.  He sighed in response.  “Jo—she’s sober.  Or says she is, and it does seem like it this time.  I’m not about to let her drive Juniper anywhere, or be alone with her, but she’s agreed to let me spend the afternoon with them.”  The muscle twitching in his jaw told Madge how he felt about this arrangement.  She tried to think of something to say, but he started talking again.  “You should probably know that she accused us of sleeping together, but I don’t think your principal bought it—Jo was really on a roll and yelling all sorts of shit about how much she hates me, so if it even registered I doubt Coin will take it seriously.  I guess this is the one time that having a real jackass of an ex-wife works in my favor.”

Madge ached to touch him, to just grab his hand and tell him she understood, but she couldn’t.  So she just nodded and tried to ignore the way her heart clenched as the three of them walked off the playground together.

 

He called her that night, just as she was about to fall asleep.  For a second she considered not answering—Johanna’s jibe about his ‘I had to’ line was still ringing in her ears—but she picked up anyway.  “Did I wake you?” he asked.

“No,” she yawned, “but I am in bed.  I’ve gotta deal with 30 Junipers tomorrow, you know.  So how did it go?”

“It was…it was fine.  We went to the park and then had some pizza and ice cream.  Mostly June talked to Jo and I tried not to bite Jo’s head off.”

“So she’s…she’s sober?  For real?”

“Yeah, I think so.  She was in rehab this winter and just got out and it seems like she’s really trying this time.  It also explains why June’s Christmas present didn’t have a return address this year.”

“So is she sticking around?”

“Sounds like it.  At least for awhile.  She’s got a line on a job with the Forest Service out in Montana.”

“That sounds…far.”

“It is,” he agreed, “and it’s probably what’s best for her since it would be away from all her shitty friends, but it’s bad for June.  I can’t just put her on a plane and send her out there, you know?  But that’s what Jo wants.  And June deserves to know her mother.  I just wish she could stay clean closer to home.”

“So what will you do?”

“I don’t know yet.  I told Jo she can visit June as long as I’m around, and we’ll see about this summer.  If Jo stays clean I might end up taking June out there for a week.”

“Oh.”  She tried not to let the image of them as a reunited family get to her, and failed.

Gale let out a deep exhale.  “So what all did she say to you?  Knowing Jo I’m sure it sucked.”

“Um, well, she, uh….well, practically the first thing out of her mouth was asking if you’d fucked me yet.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.  And when I left the office she chased me down to ask me again.  And…” Madge trailed off.

“And?  Fuck, this is going to be bad, isn’t it?”

“…and she asked me if you said ‘I had to’ after you kissed me the first time.  Said it was your ‘line.’”

“ _Fuck._   Dammit Jo,” he muttered under his breath.  “ _Fuck_.  Look, I—there’s no good explanation.  Yes, it’s my fucking line, but I meant it, okay?  I wanted to kiss you at Parents’ Night, when you were in that white dress and blue heels.  And then at parent-teacher conference, when you scarfed down that protein bar in about three bites but tried to do it politely.  And the way you talked to June that day she got in trouble—it’s all I wanted to do, every time I saw you, okay?”

“Okay.”

“And it wasn’t just that.  If it was just about sex I could’ve found someone who was a lot less work.”

A giggle bubbled out of her throat.  “I’m sorry, did you just defend yourself by saying that you could’ve had sex with someone else?”

He paused and then chuckled.  “I suppose I did, didn’t I?  Fuck.  I’m sorry Madge, I’m terrible at this.”

She smiled.  “No, it’s—it’s fine.  I mean, it kind of sucked to hear it, but it’s fine.  I’m over it.”  And it was mostly true.  She’d been bothered by it, but in the end it didn’t matter that much.  “But I do think we need to be really careful now, especially since Jo kind of knows.”

“I guess now is a bad time to tell you that I just volunteered for the zoo field trip then.”

“Shit, Gale.  Really?”

“Yeah.  I thought it sounded like fun.”

Madge sighed.  “It’s fine, but…we’ll just be careful, okay?  We can’t seem too friendly.”

“Okay, but do me a favor.”

“What?”

“Wear something frumpy or ridiculous, like that walking disaster in the front office.  And definitely don’t wear that shirt you wore to the bar.”

She laughed—that shirt certainly wasn’t something she’d ever wear to school.  “You’re safe on that count.  And I’ll see what I can do about being frumpy.”

“Good.  And Undersee?”

“Yeah?”

“The second school is over, all bets are off.”

 

_May_

Madge hadn’t exactly followed Gale’s request to dress like Effie, but she figured loose jeans and a red checkered button down wasn’t too scandalous.  Zoo day was every kindergartener’s favorite day, and even though Madge was grateful for Gale’s help—having a dad available to handle the boys’ bathroom trips would be very useful—she was also dreading having to spend the day pretending she didn’t want to fuck his brains out.  Especially since Glimmer was one of the other chaperones, and Madge knew Glimmer would use any excuse to get Madge in trouble.

She drove to the school and headed for the bus where Gale and Rue were already waiting.  Gale held up a coffee carrier with a cup for each of them.  “Oh, bless you,” she breathed, gratefully accepting it. 

“Maggie and Juniper are on the bus already, but we’re the first ones here,” Rue explained.  “No sign of Glimmer.”

Children trickled in, hopping excitedly on the bus, and still no sign of Glimmer or Zayden.  Finally, Effie came bustling out of the school.  “Oh dear, oh dear,” she started, “I just had a call from Glimmer, and it looks like poor little Zayden is sick and they won’t be coming.”

Madge cursed mentally.  “Okay, well, if they aren’t coming and everyone else is here, I guess we’ll just have to make do.  What do you guys think?”

Gale shrugged and Rue nodded.  “I think we’ve got this,” Rue said.  “Thanks Mrs. Trinkett!”  The three adults boarded the bus—Gale to the back, Rue to the center, and Madge to the front to maximize supervision—and the bus driver started the drive to the local zoo.

By lunchtime, Madge would have given anything for an extra chaperone, even the dreaded Glimmer.  The kids were wound up and having a hard time following directions.  The only upside was Madge had barely had a second to even  _look_  at Gale, much less think about how much she wanted to touch him.

She sat down under a tree for their lunch break, letting the kids run wild in the small park space.  Gale was out there, chasing them around, and Rue sat down next to her.  “So you do this every day, huh?”

“Yup.  But usually the day is a lot less exciting, so they’re a little calmer.”

Rue gave her a sly smile as Madge watched the kids—okay, she watched Gale—play.  “He’s handsome, isn’t he?”

Madge decided to play dumb.  “What?”

Rue didn’t buy it, judging by the way her eyebrows raised almost off her forehead.  She tilted her head towards Gale, who was now pretending to be either a dinosaur or a lion.  Whatever it was, it involved roaring.  “Gale.  He lives down the street from us, actually, and I know he’s single.  He’s a good guy—you should ask him out.”

“I can’t date the parent of a student,” Madge said dismissively, hoping Rue would drop it.

“Sure, but he’s not going to be the parent of a student for much longer.  We’ve got what, a month left?  You should ask him out then.  I bet he’d say yes,” she finished with a teasing singsong that made Madge burst out into laughter.

“Thanks for the tip, Rue.  I’ll think about it.”

After lunch, Gale fell into step with her just as they reached the lion enclosure and nudged her shoulder with his.  “Hey there.”

Madge smiled to herself.  “Hey yourself.  How are things?”  They hadn’t talked much in the last month—it was too hard, and Madge was worried they were playing with fire.  Every time she talked to him she wanted to throw caution to the wind, but being unemployed would put a serious cramp in her finances.  Plus, she genuinely liked her job.

“Things…things are good, I think.  Could be better though,” he winked.

Madge looked around, but fortunately the kids were preoccupied with the lions and Rue was a good fifteen feet away.

“What about Jo?  She still around?”

Gale nodded.  “Yeah, she’s in town for another week or two then she heads to Montana.”

“Is she…?”

“She’s still sober, yeah.  She comes by once or twice a week to see June now.  It’s—well, we’re not getting along much, but it’s been really great for June.”

Madge’s heart sank the tiniest bit and she felt terrible about it.  She knew she should be happy for Juniper, knew that Jo being sober and back in Juniper’s life was for the best, but for some reason it hurt.

The ride back to school was considerably quieter as the kids crashed from their previous high.  Juniper was out cold and Gale had to carry her, sleeping on his shoulder, from the bus to his car.  “She hasn’t napped like this in  _years_ ,” he whispered to Madge and Rue.  “This is going to be a  _great_  afternoon.”

Two hours later, Madge’s phone beeped with a text from Gale.

< _I thought I asked for something frumpy.  That definitely didn’t qualify. >_

_June_

The students were running wild at Field Day, which really was just an excuse for the teachers to not have to do anything major the last day of classes.  But there was a reason Madge was not a gym teacher, which was why she was hanging back, unwilling to entire the fray.

  Gale was doing no such thing, however.  He was out in the middle of the action—which at the moment was water balloon races, the rules of which Madge had never fully grasped—as the kids shrieked and threw balloons toward one another.  Juniper managed an exceptionally good hit on Zayden’s back (you’re not supposed to have favorites as a teacher, but eventually it happens) just before Rue pegged Gale square in the chest.

Madge heard the intake of breath from the surrounding moms before she realized what had happened.  She couldn’t blame them though—Gale Hawthorne in a wet t-shirt was truly a sight to behold.  Between his broad shoulders and chiseled abs, practically every parent in a thirty foot radius had their eyes glued to him.  Madge couldn’t take it anymore, so she headed back into her room.

The muffled screams of children enjoying themselves drifted in through Madge’s open window as she stacked Peeta’s cupcakes onto a tray.  They were her special end-of-the-year treat for her students, and even though Glimmer might faint at the thought of all that sugar, Madge knew they would go over like gangbusters with the kids.

“Hey you.”

Madge jumped about a mile, not having heard Gale sneak up behind her.  She looked at the door and saw that he’d pushed it closed, meaning they were alone for the first time since March.  She also saw that he was still completely soaked through from the water balloon races, which meant his shirt was clinging to him.  She groaned.  “You’re going to kill me, looking like that.”

He grinned.  “Consider it payback for the zoo.  Rue sent me in to check on the cupcakes—the races are almost done, and then I guess it’s time.”

“Mmkay.  Here—there’s a few extra for the adults, but they’ll be a hot commodity once we’re out there.”  She held out a cupcake, which Gale proceeded to eat in two enormous bites.  Madge sunk her teeth into hers, preferring to take her time.  Gale watched her with hooded eyes.

“You’ve got some…” he lifted his hand and dragged his thumb along the curve of her lips.  “There,” he whispered, sucking the frosting off his thumb, ”that’s better.”

Madge scowled at him.  “You’re deliberately making this difficult, aren’t you?”

“I am, I really am,” he said with a wink.  He grabbed one tray and they walked back out into the bright June sunlight, both of them grinning like idiots.


	5. Chapter 5

_July_

Madge checked her reflection one last time, tugging her down her white v neck and smoothing her long yellow skirt.  Once school had gotten out she’d had a week straight of in-services and meetings followed by a weekend visit to her parents, and then Gale left with Juniper to visit Jo out in Montana.  They had planned on seeing each other the weekend after he returned, but Juniper had gotten sick and Gale had to cancel.  So now it was nearly a month after school had ended and they still hadn’t seen each other.

 

But that was about to change, as Juniper was at Hazelle’s for the weekend and Madge was headed to Gale’s for dinner.  She grabbed the box of chocolate éclairs (Peeta had made them for her before he left for a long weekend at the shore with Katniss) and headed out, scolding herself for feeling so nervous.

Gale answered the door with a dark blue apron over his t-shirt and jeans.  He took the box of éclairs and stepped aside to let her in, kissing her deeply the second the door closed.  Madge let out a small sigh as she slid her hand around to the small of his back and pulled him close.  Far too soon, he stepped back.  “Damn,” he muttered.  “The burgers are already on the grill.  I should go back outside.”

“That’s fine,” she said brightly and followed him through the house and out to the back deck.  The house had a huge yard with big trees, a tire swing, and a playhouse in the corner that looked suspiciously handmade.  Gale finished flipping the burgers and turned back to her for another long kiss.

 He smiled against her lips.  “Sorry.  I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.”

Madge kissed him back, rolling up on her toes to ease the strain on both their necks.  “That makes two of us,” she breathed back. 

Gale pulled back reluctantly a few minutes later.  “All right.  If we’re ever going to eat, it’ll have to be now.”  He narrowed his eyes and pointed the spatula at her.  “So get ahold of yourself, woman.”  His stern admonition was marred by the spark in his eyes.

They ate their burgers out on the back deck, enjoying the late evening breeze.  Gale told her about the trip to Montana—he was trying to mend fences with Johanna, and while he’d probably never fully trust her, he admitted she was doing her best for Juniper.  He’d spent most of his time in the cabin while Jo took Juniper on walks and played board games.  He leaned closer and took Madge’s hand in his.  “Cell reception sucked there.  Mostly I just wanted to call you.”

She dropped a kiss on his nose.  “I missed you too.”  She grabbed their plates and stood up.  “I’ll take care of these, then we can have dessert, yeah?”

“You don’t have to,” he protested, but Madge was already elbowing the screen door open.  She rinsed the plates and slid them into the dishwasher and then walked around the island to where Gale was leaning.  She boosted herself up onto the counter, letting her sandals drop to the hardwood floor as she kicked her feet.  The box from Peeta was next to her and she popped it open.

“Dessert?”  she asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Maybe later,” Gale responded as he tilted his head down to kiss her neck.

Madge squirmed away, raising her shoulder to block his advance.  “Hey, first of all, that tickles.  Second of all, Peeta made these just for us and they’re best fresh, okay?”

Gale gave her an eye roll followed by a grin.  “Fine, if you insist.”

Madge hooked a finger into his belt loop and pulled him to stand between her legs.  She gingerly lifted an éclair to his lips.  His eyes burning into her, he opened his mouth and took a slow bite.  “Good, isn’t it?” she asked quietly as she brought it to her own lips and bit down. 

His face was inches from her own.  “You’ve got a little chocolate there,” he whispered.

“Where?” she whispered back.

“Here,” he murmured, kissing her softly on the corner of her lip.  Madge broke the kiss to set the éclair down and then leaned back to lick her fingers clean.  Gale watched her intently, his hands dropping to her ankles and gathering the hem of her skirt.  “You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?” he asked hoarsely.

Madge nodded and held his gaze.  He pushed her skirt slowly up her legs, stepping closer to her as it passed her knees and her legs fell open a little more.  She leaned farther back on her hands, angling her upper body just out of his reach.  A smirk spread across his face and he slid his hands around her back, yanking her towards him.  They were nose to nose, breathing each other’s air, but not yet kissing, enjoying teasing each other too much to give in.

Gale broke first, cuffing a hand around her neck and pulling her lips to his.  He sank his teeth into her lower lip and then slid his tongue against hers and retreated, making her chase him instead.  She wrapped her legs around his waist, trapping him against her.  She dropped her hands to the hem of his shirt and pushed it up, scraping her teeth against his nipples.  Gale took over then, letting go of her just long enough to take his shirt off completely and tug her shirt over her head.  Before he could kiss her again she gently pressed him back a step and hopped down.  She circled around him so his back was flush against the edge of the counter and dropped to her knees.  He whispered her name as she unzipped his jeans, but one look from her silenced him.  Gale let his jeans drop and Madge curled her fingers into the waistband of his boxer briefs, pulling them down as well.  He kicked both items away and gently brushed the hair out of her eyes, watching her all the while.

Madge tilted her head forward and took him in her mouth as Gale sucked in a breath.  He was a little too long, so she wrapped her hand around the base, twisting and stroking him while she sucked on the tip.  Madge kept her eyes on him, enjoying the flush that spread across his chest and the way his hand clenched the counter so hard his knuckles turned white.  She could feel him grow harder and heard his moans get louder, and when he came she felt a surge of power.

Madge stood and rose on her tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.  Gale wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck.  “Fuck, it’s hard to stand right now,” he muttered.  “And why are you still dressed?  You should be naked.”  She chuckled and twisted out of his arms to take his hand.  Madge silently led him to the stairs and up to his bedroom, shutting the door behind her.  She dropped her skirt on the floor and sauntered to the bed clad only in her light pink lacy bra and bikini cut panties. Gale watched as she reclined against the pillows, her knees slightly bent.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked kittenishly, and he crossed the room in three strides.  His kiss was almost harsh and stole her breath away.  She writhed against him, desperate for contact, for friction, but he shook his head.  Gale kissed his way down her neck and over to her shoulder, nosing her bra strap out of the way.  Her fingers found their way into his hair, holding him in place and urging him on as he dragged his mouth down to her breasts.  She sat up and twisted her arms behind her to remove her bra as Gale slid his hands up her sides to cup her breasts in both hands.  He teased her nipples with his thumbs, smirking as her eyes rolled back slightly.  Gale bent his head and licked first one nipple, then the other, and as his hands grasped her breasts with more force she let out a guttural moan.  Madge dropped back to the bed and Gale followed, kissing down her sternum and over her belly.  He lightly nipped at where her underwear sat on her hips, and as she jerked in response he did it again.

But then he stopped, his hands resting on her ribcage and his chin against her hip.  Madge raised her head slightly, her eyes questioning.  He grinned.  “Just seeing if you were paying attention,” he murmured and tugged at her panties with his teeth once more.  He licked her through them, the rough lace finally providing her with the friction she craved.  He did it once more and then pulled her panties down, flinging them across the room with an elaborate toss accompanied by a grin.

Madge bent her legs and put her feet flat on the mattress, spreading herself for him as his tongue danced around her clit.  The coil of pleasure in her belly wound tighter and tighter as he moved from her clit to her entrance, thrusting his tongue inside and drawing out her arousal.  She ground her heels into the bed as her back arched, crying out sharply as she came. 

Gale kissed the inside of her thighs and up to her stomach, pulling himself even with her.  His eyes were soft as he kissed her and reached toward the nightstand to grab a condom.  Madge took it from him and rolled it on, closing her eyes at the feel of him in her hand.  He rolled over her and raised her hands over her head, pinning them together with one hand as he sheathed himself inside of her.  Unable to touch him with her hands she curled her legs around him and lifted her hips to meet his thrusts.  He kissed her again, a long, deep kiss that she felt just as intensely as she felt him moving in her.  Her hands were still trapped but she liked the feeling, liked it in the way she’d liked kneeling in front of him, and in the way she felt when he’d knelt in front of her months before.  There was something  _freeing_  about being with Gale.  Just then his hand released her wrists and he knitted his fingers into hers as her other hand scratched down his back.  He dropped his head to her collarbone, moaning as he came.

Gale rolled to the side slightly to give her a bit of breathing room.  The sun had set sometime after dinner and the light was dim.  She squinted at him and he laughed, reaching to turn on the bedside lamp.  “There you go,” he smiled.  “Is that better?”

“Much.”  She angled her head toward him and kissed him again.  Then she propped herself up on an elbow, trailing her hand down his side.  There were bright red lines where she’d dragged her nails across his skin and she grimaced.  “Sorry,” she breathed as she kissed them in apology.

“Don’t be,” he responded.  Gale tilted her chin up and captured her lips in another kiss.

 

The next morning, Madge woke up before Gale.  He was sleeping soundly, snoring softly, and she smiled as she started to slide out of bed, careful not to wake him.  But his hand grabbed her forearm.  “Just where do you think you’re going?” he asked groggily.  She leaned back to kiss him. 

“Downstairs.” She leaned back to kiss him.  “Because when was the last time someone made you breakfast?

“Well, I was going to try and convince you to stay in bed, but in that case, never mind,” he said with a smile.  She quickly pulled on her underwear from the night before and Gale’s t-shirt.  It hung down just past her hips and she decided to forgo any sort of shorts or pants.

 She tiptoed across the cold tile floor and rummaged through his cupboards, finally coming up with coffee and filters for his coffee maker.  With that gurgling in the corner she found some eggs, bread and a frying pan.  Madge Undersee was no Peeta Mellark in the kitchen, but she  _could_  make decent scrambled eggs and toast.  Gale joined her as the eggs started cooking, wearing only pajama pants.  He kissed the nape of her neck as she worked, ignoring her warnings that a stove is no place for a shirtless man.  “Besides,” she said sarcastically, “who are you showing off for?  Pretty sure you’ve got me bagged.”

Gale faked a look of indignation.  “I had no choice.   _Someone_  stole my shirt.”

“And what, it’s the only shirt you own?  In this  _entire house?_ ”

“Whatever.  You like it.”  He lightly swatted her backside and grabbed some plates.  They ate quickly, Gale nudging her feet under the table every so often.  “Hey,” he mumbled around his last bite, “let’s go outside to finish our coffee.  Looks like a nice day.”  Madge nodded, so he topped off their mugs and pushed the sliding doors open.  He led her to a wide adirondack chair and sat down.  Madge glanced around, looking for another chair.  Gale smirked.  “What, you want your own chair now too, Princess?”  He rested his coffee cup on the arm and motioned for her to join him.  The chair was surprisingly roomy, provided she sat between his legs (which, she supposed, had probably been his goal all along.) 

They sat tangled together, her back against his chest and his arms around her waist, sipping their coffee, until Madge finally broke the silence.  “You go get Juniper tomorrow morning, right?”

“Yeah, Ma does a big Sunday brunch for everyone and I bring her home after.”  Madge felt his chest rise and fall as he took a deep breath.  “About—about Juniper.  Shit, I don’t know how to put this.”  Madge set down her coffee and twisted her neck to look at him.  “Look, Madge I—I like you, okay?  I’m guessing you already put that together, and I do want to see where this goes, but…I have to look out for June.  And normally I would just say I don’t introduce girlfriends to her before six months, but you already know her.  Which is great, and she loves you, but—“

“—but you don’t want her getting attached to me until you know I’m sticking around?”

Gale blew out a breath between his teeth.  “Yeah.  That.  And I don’t want it to seem like I’m hiding you, or I’m ashamed, or even that I don’t think this is serious—“

Madge settled back against his shoulder, lightly trailing her fingers across his forearm.  “No, it’s fine.  I understand.”  She paused.  “But what’s this about me being your girlfriend?  I’m just using you for the sex.”

He smiled as he kissed the top of her head.  “Well then, I hope you’re getting your money’s worth.” In the distance, a lawn mower hummed.

“So how are we going to do this?” she asked.

“You mean dating?  Well, Ma will keep taking June for a weekend, so we’ll at least have that.  And as long as I pay her, I bet Posy would watch her on a Friday or Saturday night.  I’d have to go to your place though, or we could go out, but I probably wouldn’t’ t be able to spend the night.”

“I can live with that.  You?”

“Definitely,” he replied, tilting her chin and capturing her lips for a long, slow kiss.

“So what would you normally do on a day like today?” Madge asked, pulling back slightly.

“Honestly?  Probably just mow the lawn and go grocery shopping without June throwing a fit when I buy carrots.  And then watch something that isn’t on the Disney channel.  Did you need to get going?”

Madge shrugged.  “I don’t really have any plans for today, but I can head out if you have stuff you need to get done.”

“Nope.  In fact, I was just going to ask if you wanted to stay for awhile.”  He lowered his head and kissed her once more.

“But if you have stuff you need to do…”

Gale’s fingers tangled in her hair as he thought.  “How about this.  I really do have to mow the lawn, but then I’m yours for the rest of the day.  Can you keep yourself busy for an hour or so?”

Madge craned her neck up to kiss him.  “Sounds like a plan, Hawthorne.”

Madge scrolled absently through her phone on the deck while Gale mowed the lawn, distracting her with the occasional wave and his ever-present shirtlessness.  His task finished, he crawled back onto the chair with her.  Madge wrinkled her nose.  “You’re kinda gross and sweaty, you know.”

“Yup.  I know.”  He wrapped his arms around her and ignored her squeals of disapproval.  “I was thinking,” he murmured in her ear, “we could always go take a shower.”

And that was how Madge came to be sitting on the counter in his bathroom, her nails digging into his back and her legs around his waist as he fucked her slowly.  He sank his teeth into her shoulder just as she felt the first flutterings of her walls and they came together, panting heavily.  Gale stepped back and stumbled over their discarded towels.  Madge grinned at him.  “It seems like we keep getting distracted,” she mused.

“Actually, I’d say things are going  _exactly_  as planned,” he shot back with a smirk.  (After all, it was hardly an accident that a condom found its way into the bathroom with them).

Finally dried off, Madge didn’t feel like redressing in yesterday’s clothes so Gale handed her an old shirt and shorts.  The shorts were too big and she had to roll the waistband several times, but they were clean and comfortable.  They spent the afternoon lounging on the couch in the air conditioning, Madge reading a book and Gale watching old episodes of Top Gear.

At 6pm, Madge raised her head from the arm of the couch.  “Want me to order us some dinner?  I’m not the world’s best cook, but I  _am_  pretty good at calling for pizza.”

“Sounds great, Undersee.”

So Madge ordered an extra-large meat lovers pizza for the both of them, which they ate on the living room floor, giggling at the way melted cheese stuck to their chins.  Gale suggested a movie, and when Madge voted for  _Frozen_  he nearly shoved her over.  Later that night, Madge woke to find they’d both fallen asleep on the couch, tangled in each other’s arms.  She shook Gale awake and they stumbled to bed, once again twining themselves together.

And the next morning, as she drove home—embarrassedly waving at Rue, who was out walking the family dog—she started counting down the days to their next weekend together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the official end of the story-- the next two chapters are outtakes and drabbles.


	6. Outtake: Johanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johanna's POV on April (Chapter Four.) Trigger warnings for addiction and unexpected pregnancy.

The moment the blonde kindergarten teacher walked into the grim, airless office, Johanna knew.  This woman was the sort of polished, perfect little princess that Gale swore up, down, and sideways he didn’t want—because deep down, they were  _exactly_  what he wanted, and he hated that.  Instead, he’d convinced himself (and her) that what he wanted was a relationship that was always one fight from ending completely with a fucked up girl from a family as poor as his.  Johanna loathed this obnoxiously perfect woman with her perfectly tailored dress and carefully chosen jewelry that spoke of never having to drag your ass out of bed and go pick your mother up at whatever bar at which she was currently making a scene, (no matter the fact that you were only fourteen and had a fucking biology test the next day) the second she poked her head into the office, looking strangely apprehensive.

 

No, this woman who was pretty much a made-to-order kindergarten teacher didn’t know what that was like at all, Johanna decided.  So she went for the jugular, and the flash in her eyes when Johanna asked if he’d fucked her yet all but confirmed it.  Which was really just the cherry on top of a shit sundae—she had  _finally_  gotten her shit together enough to trust herself around Juniper and now couldn’t actually see her thanks to Gale being world’s biggest dick about custody,  _and_  she had to face her replacement.

What was worse was the fact that she couldn’t even fault Gale for picking out someone so clearly superior at all things mothering.  This busty little bitch would probably bake Juniper cookies, and sing her age-appropriate songs, and have more life skills than “able to tell what type of tree it is at thirty paces” and “can drink anyone under the table” the latter of which was no longer something she could brag about.  That, more than anything, hurt.  So she chased the princess down the hall and hissed about Gale’s line—she knew he used it on several of his rebound girls during their third breakup in college, the one that lasted four months, the one where Jo almost failed out because all she did was drink and dig up things of his left in her apartment to destroy—and the wince that crossed blondie’s face should have been proof enough.

But Johanna could never just leave shit alone—she had to keep poking at it, keep pressing the bruise even though it already hurt like hell.  Gale showed up in the office, his eyes burning in a way she knew all too well, and Johanna just couldn’t help herself.  The first thing out of his arrogant fucking mouth was “You are not taking her unsupervised.”  Not “hi,” not, “We used to be married and I used to love you so maybe I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt,” not even “Tried rehab lately?” but a fucking ultimatum.  Johanna lost it—Gale had that effect on her—and let out every nasty thought she’d had about him in the hell that was rehab, plus a few new ones like the fact that he was  _clearly_  fucking the kindergarten teacher.

It was his total lack of reaction that made it real.  Gale  _always_  reacted; that’s who he was, that’s how they fought.  They’d been fighting for years.  So the way his face remained impassive, the way he refused to break eye contact as he sternly informed her “that’s ridiculous, Jo,” and then flicked his eyes just slightly toward the crabby old bitch in the corner to judge her reaction clinched it.

And then after what felt like hours of yelling, and then begging, and then straight out groveling for the right to see her own fucking flesh and blood, Gale finally relented and they walked out to find Juniper and he headed  _straight_  for that teacher like he couldn’t stand to spend another minute away from her.  Jo half expected them to just start making out then and there, but the careful distance between them—a little more than was strictly necessary—told her this was something they were hiding. Normally, this was something she would have filed away, maybe used for her own benefit in the future, but Juniper was screaming “Mommy!” and launching herself off the swings and running towards her.

Juniper was the single good thing Johanna had ever done.  She was smart and happy—and she’d gotten so big in the last six months—but the way her face lit up at the sight of her mother was like a slap in the face.   _If only you knew_ , she thought,  _if only you knew that I don’t even know how long you were in your crib that day, that all I remember is telling myself I needed a drink to take the edge off,  and then another, and then another, and then I put you down for a nap and the next thing I know your dad was holding you and looking at me with eyes that would never forgive me._

She’d ranted about that in therapy for hours—how she’d made  _one_  mistake and as a result her jackass of an ex-husband would never, ever forgive her for it until Doctor Fucking Aurelius pointed out that maybe she hadn’t forgiven herself.  That was shrink bullshit, but uncomfortably close to the truth.  Still, she insisted, Gale never understood how it was for her.  He didn’t know what it was like to suddenly find yourself pregnant when you’d never even decided if you wanted kids, all because you both got drunk at a dinner party and forgot to use a condom.  Gale didn’t understand how it felt to be  _so sure_  that no matter what you did, you’d never be a good mom, that you just weren’t cut out for this sort of thing.  The way his eyes had lit up at that positive pregnancy test had convinced her she could do it, but then Juniper was born and all she did was scream and cry and shit and gnaw on Johanna’s tits until they felt like they might fall off entirely, and then Gale would come home from work and Juniper would coo and smile and do all the shit babies are supposed to do for their mothers, but for  _him_.  Gale didn’t know what it felt like to walk to the park and have everyone else just  _know_  that you were the white trash daughter of a bar skank who couldn’t even be bothered to leave her latest boyfriend to come to her own daughter’s wedding.  So Jo had started with just drinking a little bit, just enough to keep from screaming right along with Juniper.  She hadn’t had a drink since the day she found out she was pregnant, after all, and Juniper was on a bottle by then so really, she wasn’t hurting anyone, she reasoned.  She wasn’t her mother—she would never do that to Juniper.  She was just coping, that was all.

And Gale did love her, at or least he did then, so even if it wasn’t the life Johanna really wanted, it was a good life and one she could like, or so she told herself.  Even though they fought like cats and dogs he would come to her later and curl around her, whispering his apologies in her ear after he thought she was asleep.  He always swore that those sorority skanks he’d been with during their longest breakup were an aberration, that he wanted  _her_ , not some spoiled little brat.  Jo never fully believed him—she knew he was with her because he thought she was what he  _deserved_ , not what he wanted—but she tried to, because it felt good to be loved by someone like him.

So that look in his eyes that awful day when she’d lost everything had hurt even more, because she’d let herself believe him when he said he was there for her no matter what.  He was the one who had held her the day her mother called to tell her that “I’d love to come, really, I would, but the wedding is so soon”—because six months is too soon when you’re looking for any excuse in the book—“and Richard just won’t be able to get time off of work and I simply can’t come without Richard.”  The fact that Johanna had never even met fucking Richard didn’t matter to her mother, but Gale had promised that  _he_  would be her family now, that he would be the only family she ever needed.  And the way his eyes sparkled the day she told him she was pregnant, the way he spun her around in his arms, laughing that maybe it wasn’t the plan but it was the best news he’d ever had, made her believe him.

“Mommy?”  Juniper moved out of her arms, her tiny forehead crinkled with worry.  “Are you sad?”

Johanna quickly blinked back her tears and kissed Juniper’s forehead.  “No baby, I’m not sad.”  She forced a smile.  “I’m just really happy to see you—should we go see if Daddy will buy us some pizza?”

Juniper cheered and Jo steeled herself; she still had some shitty conversations ahead of her.  Seeing as Gale wouldn’t even let her spend the afternoon unsupervised, chances of convincing him to send Juniper to Montana alone were slim.  But Blight’s offer of a position that came with a cabin (and his assurance that he would check in on her and help her with her sobriety without making her attend those stupid fucking meetings) was too good to pass up.  It meant being away from Juniper, but if it meant being a better person maybe that would be better for Juniper in the long run anyway.  She took Juniper’s hand and started walking toward the parking lot as Gale said goodbye to Little Miss Perfect, trying to remember how Aurelius told her breathe through her anger.  She had to do better this time, for Juniper.

And maybe—just maybe–she wouldn’t fuck it up this time.


	7. Drabble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For swishy, as always.

Madge rinsed out her coffee cup and stared absently out the window.  It was a warm, breezy spring day and Juniper was at Hazelle’s  until tomorrow morning, which meant Madge still had another whole day with Gale before she had to go home. After almost three years, it was getting harder and harder to leave each time.

Gale crept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle.  “Whatcha thinking?” he asked, his lips whispering over the shell of her ear and making her shiver.

Madge twisted in his arms so she could slide her arms up and around his neck.  “That it’s getting hard to leave you.  These weekends aren’t enough sometimes,” she admitted and kissed him softly.

“I know, I don’t like it either,” Gale agreed and kissed her back a little less softly.  “But at least it isn’t for too much longer,” he said with a grin.

Madge unconsciously rubbed her thumb against her fourth finger, spinning the ring around a bit. “Can’t wait,” she replied, leveraging herself up to kiss him yet again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to bleedtoloveher, jeeno2, and swishywillow for their hand-holding and assistance in writing this fic.


End file.
